Common Questions

Psychotherapy/counseling, or common known as the “talk therapy,” utilizes talking and a safe therapeutic relationship with a therapist to explore possible origins, impacts, and solutions to emotional and/or behavioral issues. In psychotherapy, you and your therapist may discuss in greater details of your thoughts, feelings, or motivations underlying certain behaviors. Depending on your presenting concerns, significant relationships or relevant life experiences in your past and present may also be explored. These topics are incorporated in therapy so that you may gain insights about yourself and therefore find tools to make future life choices that are rewarding and meaningful.

The short answer to the second question is, YES. Therapy is NOT for people who are “sick or crazy.” Therapy is for everyone who knows that real life sometimes gets real hard. As we move through this lifelong journey called life, we oftentimes come face to face with difficult challenges in our ways that at times feel too big for us to hold on our own. These challenges may be significant life transitions (e.g., going to college, moving to a new town, starting a new job, ending a job, entering into a new relationship, ending a relationship, having a child, losing a child) that may or may not be planned. In face of these challenges, we may develop emotional reactions such as stress, anxiety, or sadness in mood, that are seemingly not quite helpful to us. In therapy, your therapist can assist you in identifying these life challenges, their subsequent emotional and/or behavioral reactions, understanding them, then moving forward with new tools of coping and thriving.

The process of therapy typically begins with a thorough assessment, known as the intake interview, in which information on your presenting issues, relevant history, general functioning, and overall wellness are obtained. Then, you and the therapist work collaboratively to establish treatment goals and action plans based on your presenting concerns. Throughout the course of therapy, you and the therapist will check in periodically on these goals and plans to monitor the treatment process and to modify accordingly if necessary. The length of therapy varies, depending on your goals, circumstances, and situations. This is usually determined together with your therapist during the initial phase of therapy.

YES. For therapy to be successful, it requires a tremendously amount of trust in the therapeutic relationship between you and the therapist, in which many deeply personal and sensitive materials are discussed. As psychologists, we do not take this trust lightly and we adhere to the highest level of ethical codes surrounding confidentiality. In general, everything that is disclosed in therapy, including all records, will be kept confidential and no one has access to your records without a written consent of release signed by you. The few exceptions to this confidentiality are related to safety concerns. If there are reasonable suspicions that you are in immediate danger of harming yourself, or someone else; or if there are reasonable suspicions of an incident of child abuse or abuse of elderly or dependent adults, confidentiality may be waived to ensure the safety of people involved.

Psychotherapy and psychiatric medications are two forms of treatment for mental health related issues. Psychiatric treatments typically involve medication prescription and management. As psychologists, we do not hold prescription privileges and cannot prescribe medications. However, it is often found that combining both forms of treatment can be beneficial especially at the initial phase of treatment. If you are interested in supplementing therapy with medication, we can provide you with referrals for psychiatrists in the area that may fit your needs.

Before scheduling your first appointment, it is recommended that you schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with Dr. Shaw. During this initial phone conversation, Dr. Shaw will ask you some general questions such as your presenting issues and what you are looking for in therapy to better understand whether our service may be a good fit for you. During this time, Dr. Shaw can also answer any questions you may have regarding the therapy process. If it is determined that a follow-up meeting is necessary after the initial phone consultation, Dr. Shaw may offer to schedule an in-person consultation with you, at the regular session rate (currently $165 per 50-minute clinical hour).

Presently, the rate of each session is $150 per 50-minute clinical hour, including intake interview, individual session, and couples counseling. Rates may be negotiable and a sliding scale fee may be available on a limited basis. Dr. Shaw does not currently accept health insurance coverage and is considered an “out-of-network” provider. For more details, please visit our RATES page.

All appointments can be cancelled or rescheduled without a charge as long as such changes are made at least 24 hours prior to the original scheduled appointment. Changes made within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment will be charged with the full session fee.

Dr. Shaw is fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese and can provide therapy in both languages. In order to foster a safe environment in the therapeutic relationship, Dr. Shaw typically encourages clients to use either or both languages in ways that are natural and comfortable to them.
蕭博士能以英文和中文流利地與您溝通。為了能創造一個安全的咨詢治療關係，蕭博士建議您在會談的過程中自由且舒適地使用您所習慣的語言。

A consulting relationship is vastly different from a counseling relationship. For details in counseling, please see FAQ on Psychotherapy/Counseling. For consulting, our clients are typically organizations that are looking for insights on human behavior to achieve specific goals in productivity, safety, diversity/inclusion, organizational changes and management. In counseling, we as therapists focus on the individual level and the therapeutic treatment progress. In consulting, we as consultants focus on the organizational level and provide suggestions or recommendations that are appropriate to your organizational goals.

We have served many different types of organizations, ranging from university campuses, student organizations, professional organizations, and businesses. Our clients are business owners, executives, educators, or student leaders who are intentional about making their organizations or workplace more culturally sensitive and inclusive.

A lot of times our clients approach us with some kind of consultation in mind. For example, they may be looking for additional training in diversity competence or cultural sensitivity for their employees. Or they are looking for experts in the field of psychology to provide presentations or workshops on mental health wellness and increased productivity. Whether you are looking for a specific type of consultation or not, our consultants will collaborate with you, conduct necessary assessments on your organization or business, and propose specific types of consultation tailored for your needs.

The rates are dependent upon the type of consultation provided. An initial consultation meeting, or ongoing, 1-hour session consultation is $150 per hour. Other type of services such as workshop, presentation, or seminar is charged based on the length of preparation and the type of delivery of such event. Please visit our RATES page for more details.